RapidShare ordered to monitor content for copyrighted material

RapidShare has been ordered to monitor its content in a bid to clamp down on internet piracy.

A Higher Regional Court in Hamburg upheld three rulings from lower courts stating that the online storage locker was not doing enough to tackle copyright infringement.

Performance rights organisation GEMA filed a complaint against Rapidshare in 2009, preventing the website from making 5,000 of its songs available online. Book publishers De Gruyter and Campus lodged similar suits to protect their materials.

RapidShare must now monitor thousands of daily uploads to ensure that no books or music under ownership of the three firms end up hosted on its website.

TorrentFreak understands that the Higher Regional Court's decision contradicts a previous ruling it made, which stated that web hosts cannot filter copyrighted material as it is a violation of user privacy.